Kelly Rowland’s dad left her and her mom when she was just 7-years-old, and now he’s looking to make things right.

During an interview with Radar Online, the 67-year-old said he hopes his daughter can find a place in her heart to forgive him.

“So many previous years have passed and I’m getting old,” he said. “I just pray she comes back into my life before it’s too late…I couldn’t control [the drinking and verbal abuse that Kelly witnessed]. I hoped I could make it up to her. But I’m still waiting for that day.”

He went on to give Kelly a special message: “I love you with all my heart.”

He added, “Whenever [Destiny’s Child] was on the cover of a magazine, I would call and beg them to tell her I was looking for her.”

In a 2011 interview with Cosmo, the songstress said she forgives her dad, but wishes he’d keep the details of their relationship more private.

“He reached out to me saying he wanted to see me, but it’s unfortunate he did it so publicly. I want to meet him, and soon, I really do. I forgave him a long time ago. I haven’t seen my dad for almost 20 years. It’s nothing I want a pity party for. He left me and my mom, and I was angry. I wanted to be a daddy’s girl so bad. God damn ‘The Cosby Show’ because that made me think ‘Why aren’t my family like that?’ But this is not a perfect world.”

“It’s really important just to forgive my father. I want to meet him this Christmas, because now is the time, because tomorrow’s not promised to us,” she in a later interview that year. “I think it’s important to forgive people and we move on, we have to. The pain is there, of course it will be there, and it’s important to know that forgiveness is the first step towards healing it all.”